Russia’s air force on Friday received the first examples of a number of modernized strategic bombers – a Tu-160M and Tu-95MSs – following upgrade work performed by manufacturer Tupolev.

Enhancement activity on the supersonic Tu-160 includes “partial replacement” of the aircraft’s avionics and weapons systems, says Tupolev. First flight of the initial example took place on Nov. 16.

A second phase of modernisation will begin in 2016 with the addition of uprated Kuznetsov NK-32 engines, according to Russian news agency Itar-Tass. Flightglobal’s MiliCAS database lists the service as possessing an active inventory of 13 of the long-range bombers. It will bring “more than a dozen” aircraft to the enhanced standard, says Itar-Tass.

For the complete story by Dominic Perry of Flightglobal.com, click here.